WordPress 5.9 was supposed to arrive in December 2021 and did not. The project announced that the next major version would be delayed to 25 January 2022. Here is what was in it, what was not ready, and why waiting was the right call.
Why the deadline slipped
Some core contributors were concerned about meeting the project’s deadline because the work had fallen behind. The rush to hit a date, and the number of changes still outstanding, were the warning signs that 5.9 would not land on time.
This would have been the third major release of 2021, and the number of changes involved turned out to be more than the development team could finish to schedule.
What 5.9 was supposed to deliver
Version 5.9 was described as the biggest WordPress update for its community, and Full Site Editing is the reason. It lets publishers edit and modify every aspect of a page through the Gutenberg block interface — a change in how a site is built rather than an addition to it.
The Gutenberg interface brings the tools into one place, with visual cues and shortcuts that work for a beginner and for someone who has used WordPress for a decade.
- Global styles interface
- Navigation Block
- Block themes
- Template editors
- Site-editing flows
What was not ready
The team had a straightforward choice: ship a diminished version on the original schedule, or cancel the deadline and release the full 5.9 later.
The announcement explained what stopped it:
“Near the end of the original alpha release cycle, issues arose that related to multiple major features planned for the 5.9 release, including:
Full Site Editing (FSE), which is a collection of features, such as global styles interface, Navigation Block, block themes, template editors, and site editing flows.
The Twenty Twenty-Two (TT2) theme, which depends on these FSE features.“
A theme built on an unfinished feature cannot ship before it, which is what made this a delay rather than a partial release.
Why the timing helped
There is a practical argument for waiting until the year-end holidays are over before releasing a major version: trouble during the shopping season is trouble at the worst possible moment for the sites running on it.
What this means if you run a WordPress site
A delayed major release is worth reading as a signal about what to plan around, not as a failure. Our comparison of Wix and WordPress covers what depending on this platform involves, and our blog carries the rest of the WordPress coverage.
If you want to talk about a site of your own, contact us.
Frequently asked questions
When was WordPress 5.9 rescheduled to?
WordPress announced that the next major version, due out in 2021, would be delayed to 25 January 2022. It would have been the project’s third major release of that year.
Why was the release delayed?
Some core contributors were concerned the project had fallen behind and would not make the deadline. The rush and the number of changes still outstanding were the warning signs, and the volume of work turned out to be too much for the development team to finish on schedule.
What is Full Site Editing?
Full Site Editing is a collection of features that lets publishers edit and modify every aspect of a page through the Gutenberg block interface. The collection includes the global styles interface, the Navigation Block, block themes, template editors and site editing flows.
What made this release significant?
Version 5.9 was described as the biggest WordPress update for its community, because Full Site Editing changes how a site is built rather than adding to it. The Gutenberg block interface brings the tools into one place with visual cues and shortcuts that suit beginners and experienced users alike.
Which parts were not ready?
The announcement named issues affecting multiple major features: Full Site Editing itself, and the Twenty Twenty-Two theme, which depends on those Full Site Editing features. A theme that depends on an unfinished feature cannot ship ahead of it.
Was delaying it the right decision?
The team chose between shipping a diminished version on the original schedule and releasing the complete 5.9 later. Given that the alternative was a major release landing during the year-end shopping season, waiting until after the holidays was the safer of the two.
